Dear American Friends...

[pyat]

Please explain:

"We see America as the greatest force for good in this world," Palin said at a fund-raising event in Colorado, adding, "Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists..."

No, seriously. What is going on down there? Have you all gone mad, or something?

Mind you, it makes for interesting headlines. The big contentious issue in the election up here is whether or not carbon tax is a good idea. The incumbent, Prime Minister Headcheese, is accusing his front-running rival (Milquetoast Q. Egghead of the Liberal Party) of "wanting a recession." His rival was described by Canadian media outlets as "enraged."

"It happens that I think his right-wing policies that he's proposing for our economy will hurt people not because he wants that," said Dion, "but because he has the bad policies for the country, the bad ideology that he wants to import in Canada, solutions that did not work for the economy around the world."

Easy there, tiger! I can practically feel the anger pouring from the text!

Comments

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I think it has something to do with the age of a country.

Look at what goes on in say Britain.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

In addition to being ruthless to the point of complete immorality, the Republican party has (since the early 1970s) reshaped itself into a party that appeals primarily to excepionally narrow-minded racists and religious fanatics. The fact that Obama isn't one of them is enough to earn their hatred, the fact that he's black means that he's obviously evil incarnate. The above statement is simply more evidence of this fact.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Yes, what he said. Stop thinking of Palin as a participant in a rational political process, and start think of her as the equivalent of a hand-job for the eighty million Americans who wish that the social advances of the 20th century had never happened. She is them; she shares and thus dignifies their prejudices. It doesn't matter what kind of President she'd be, it matters that she knows exactly what words to purr into their ears while applying friction, and can deliver them sincerely.

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

The fact that she probably benefited personally from every single one of those social advances doesn't seem to trouble her.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Can I quote you in my LJ? I think this is the best thing I've read so far on the subject. :-)

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

In general you can always quote anything I say, and I'll be flattered. :) But in this particular instance, don't quote me, quote Matt Taibbi, who I stole the line from. Here's his original column: http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/100551

"Gone" mad?

[krdbuni.livejournal.com]

The real problem is that all of our genuine barking moonbats are right-wing, sort of like Denmark.

Kristy

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

I'm seriously emigrating...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxm20ZcONOk

Get me out of here!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm a Canadian, living in Florida. Moved here 28 years ago @ 16, when my parents moved us all. I'll never forgive them ;)
My wife and I are seriously discussing moving back to Canada as soon as the kids finish high school (3 years). This country USA is sick! Everyone hates everyone else, Republicans vs. Democrats, Whites vs. Blacks, Blacks vs Hispanic, Rich vs. Poor, etc, etc. They have borrowed themselves into literally bankruptcy, are arrogant and think they are still the best in the world. George Bush is a tyrant, and is dumb, but they want to elect a 72 year old who finished 3rd to last in his class, has a known bad temper, and his VP pick has ZERO experience! Help!!

Re: Get me out of here!

[slwatson.livejournal.com]

Why thank you for generalizing about the country, tarring every one of us with the same brush. How enlightened.

Re: Get me out of here!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I don't know who that commenter it is.

Re: Get me out of here!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Another anon comment just showed up. I'm suspecting some kind of spam.

Re: Get me out of here!

[slwatson.livejournal.com]

The other anon at least sounds sane. This one sounds like a fucking asshole. ::smirks:: In the American vernacular.

Re: Get me out of here!

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I'd wait a few months. Thing could actually flip around soon depending on how both elections go.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

*snorts milk out his nose!*

[slwatson.livejournal.com]

Don't look at me. Most sane Americans don't want that psycho in charge.

Re: Republicans Against McCain

[pyat.livejournal.com]

*nods* I know - I think 2/3 of my FL is from the US, and there is little love for the Republicans in general, with one or two fairly thoughtful exceptions.

Re: Republicans Against McCain

[slwatson.livejournal.com]

Then why the 'have you all?' No. We have not ALL gone mad. Just the ones who were already barking lunatics, and every country has those.

Re: Republicans Against McCain

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Just a general expression of frustration. Sorry about that, I'll phrase myself more carefully. :)

Re: Republicans Against McCain

[slwatson.livejournal.com]

I'd appreciate it... because a whole lot of us are frustrated too. ;-) And being lumped in with Palin supporters is enough to make most sane people see... well, blue!

Republicans Against McCain

[(Anonymous)]

Palin is exactly the reason traditionally Republican families like ours are voting for Obama this year. Word was already out a few days ago that the McCain campaign was going to use the negative approach as a last-ditch desperate measure. When you have Republican families like ours jumping ship then you know the Republican candidate is completely unqualified for the job. McCain is an elitist anyway, his tax and medical plans only help the richest people in this country.

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

"No, seriously. What is going on down there? Have you all gone mad, or something?"

Yeah.

[kfops.livejournal.com]

I may be stuck using the nicknames "Prime Minister Headcheese" and Milquetoast Q. Egghead from now on, though!

[lee-in-limbo.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a Canadian who married a native New Yorker, I know that there are plenty of intelligent Americans, Dem or Rep alike, who are not happy with the current situation. the Dems are horrified at the notion that many seem to be siding with McCain/Palin for some of the worst reasons, and the Reps are embarrassed at the shameful way the McCain/Palin campaign is being handled. Sadly, there are just too many people who can't see beyond the end of their noses to really hear and comprehend what's being fed to them.

That goes for folks on this side of the border too. I was embarrassed by the comments being made by the call in listeners to the federal election debate. We have nothing to crow about, save that our political landscape is still relatively more sedate. Not a lot of real thought is going into things up here either.

Lee.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I definitely didn't mean to lump people all together. I was sort expressing a frustration along the lines of "Everyone's gone crazy!", without intending that it should be read that I actually thought everyone was, in fact, crazy.

Er.

[lee-in-limbo.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. I do it a lot myself, and tend to get slapped down for it frequently, so I feel for you. It's hard not to overstate your point in times like these.

lee.

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

It is primarily the result of frustration at our two-party system, that gives us our choice of the two most prominent and audacious scoundrels. People are coming to blows over what amounts to whose candidate sucks the least.

Things would be so different in a more parliamentary style of government where multiple parties can coexist and cooperate on building coalitions for years-long periods of time instead of falling to back-stabbing and self-interst half-a-dozen times a year as each major piece of legislation or crisis comes along.

[iridium-wolf.livejournal.com]

She's absolutely unqualified for the office she is has, let alone the office she is seeking.

I can't explain it, and part of me is quite happy about that. I don't ever want to understand the cognitive dissonance that has to go on in the heads of those who believe as she does just to make it through any given day.

Here's hoping she and her party lose in November, and lose big!

Re: Republicans Against McCain

[madmanofprague.livejournal.com]

I think we should invade and put them out of their misery.

[paka.livejournal.com]

Why yes. Yes, as a matter of fact, we have.

You missed the debate, I'm assuming. Let me sum up; Biden came across as this working class town boy made good, who'd lived through a lot of hardship and cared about his kids, his constituents - even about people from the other party. He was smart and confident. Heck. I'd say he did better than either of the Presidential candidates in their debate.

For comparison, you had Palin. She had all these homey attitudes, all this airhead behavior, a lot of reverence for Gen. Petraeus and Ronald Reagan, she rambled, and she talked a lot about how both she and John McCain were mavericks and how we need to not look at past voting record, if we're talking about McCain anyway. The highlight of her performance was her talking about maintaining the sanctity of traditional marriages, while not actually confronting benefits and saying she'd allow hospital visitations and was incredibly tolerant with diverse friends. This is not someone you trust with a sharpened fork.

Our media calls it a draw in which both sides did well, and the Republican faithful say she won.

The terrorist in question

[rowyn]

Is William Ayers.

He is a terrorist -- in the 70s he participated in bombings of NYC Police HQ, the Pentagon, and the US Capitol. Obviously, not a very effective terrorist (I don't know if that was due to incompetence or a lack of will to do serious damage). He's unapologetic about it, though.

Connection to Obama: they were both on the board of an anti-poverty group, and IIRC, Obama participated in a charity that funneled a lot of money to Ayers' education charity. Ayers does have some pretty scary ideas about education still (indoctrinating children in radical ideaology), which I find more disturbing than his '70s activities, personally.

It's certainly not a strong connection, and Ayers isn't the sort of terrorist people think about when the word "terrorist" is used today. Palin's remark is certainly misleading. But not entirely unfounded.